


IV. CALIFORNIA

by ghostfacekillmonger



Series: CHUNK. [4]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 05:41:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20522864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostfacekillmonger/pseuds/ghostfacekillmonger
Summary: The rain brings Erik and Chloe closer than they’ve ever been before.





	IV. CALIFORNIA

Miami hadn’t seen a storm this bad in a while. The sounds of the heavy rain and thunder nearly muffled the weather man on TV as he reported the worsening conditions. Erik had insisted on walking Chloe inside to make sure she was safe, but the aggressive storm swirling red and green on the map let him know he wouldn’t be driving anywhere else soon. Chloe was tempted to turn up the volume, but she didn’t want to disturb Erik’s conversation.

_“Where the fuck are you, Erik?”_

Erik leaned against the wall in Chloe’s kitchen, on FaceTime with his baby’s mother. He pulled his lips in tight and sighed. Chloe didn’t care for her tone - it was harsh and pointed, so much so that it reminded her of the girls from high school. The same girls who loved Erik and tormented her daily.

_“You must be at a bitch house.”_

The two of them had already been going back forth for so long that Chloe had time to change clothes. Apparently, Erik’s voyage to Miami was completely impromptu and she had no idea he was gone. Chloe listened to them quietly as she filled up a kettle with water to make them some hot tea.  
“I’m in Miami. I had a family emergency.” He could have been lying, but Chloe didn’t have enough information to know either way. “Why you calling? Did you need something?”

_“No. I was lonely and I just wanted to see you…”_ The longing, desperation in her voice was familiar to Chloe, since it wasn’t much different than her own. Clearly, someone else missed him as much as she did and Chloe felt like a fool for falling into his arms so quickly at the restaurant. Deep in thought, Chloe leaned against the countertop and folded her arms. Erik took a quick glance away from his screen, eyes lingering over her chest in the tank top she had changed into.

_“Erik! Are you listening to me? What are you looking at?”_

“Nothing, damn! My baby still up? Lemme talk to her.”

_“Well, I’m right here…”_

He rolled his eyes. “Put my daughter on the phone please and thank you.”

_“Cali! Cali, it’s Daddy!”_

Erik’s face lit up at the sight of his babygirl. She babbled excitedly on the other end almost knocking the phone from her mother’s hands.

_“Dada, Dada! Hi Dada!”_

“There’s my big girl! Hey Chunky Monkey!”

_“I told you about calling her that!”_

“Whatever. What’s my baby doing?”

She chattered incoherently, grinning and slobbering at her father’s face in the screen. Chloe was pleasantly surprised at Erik’s baby voice as they talked back and forth in nonsense. 

Cali was Erik’s heart. After leaving Miami, he had grown an even tougher exterior and he thought he had forgotten how to be caring and how to be tender. That is, until the day he held his babygirl in his arms. Cali was innocent and pure. She had a long time before she would ever be jaded the realities of the world and if Erik had it his way, she never would. 

_“Tell Daddy night-night, Cali. Might be the last time you see him.”_

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you talking like that?”

_“Well, when are you coming back to Oakland?”_

“In a couple days…” Or at least that’s what he would tell her. Erik bit his lip. “I wanna bring Cali down here soon.” It had been well over a decade since he’d been home and he missed it more than he wanted to admit. He wanted his daughter to experience it all as well.

_“You must be bringing me, too.”_

“You ain’t invited. It’s a daddy-daughter thing.”

_“You used to be my daddy…”_

“Y’know what — bye! **Love you Cali! Be good!** Bye!” Erik struggled to end the call, much to Chloe’s amusement. She giggled as the kettle startled to whistle.

“Whatchu laughing at, girl?” Erik powered down his phone and placed it on the kitchen table. Still in a fit of laughter, Chloe turned to pour their cups. 

“You sure y’all not together?” 

“It’s not like that.”

“What’s it like then?”

“It’s like…I used to break her off every now and then, but I…I think it was confusing Cali. Some mornings she’d wake up and daddy was there. Then sometimes I wasn’t. Sooo, we stopped…”

“Hm.” Nothing was ever that simple, no matter how Erik made it seem. Without warning the lights in the kitchen flickered, followed by a sharp clap of thunder. 

“You giving me attitude now?” Erik teased. He walked up behind her as she dug through the kitchen drawers for a flashlight and tickled her on her sides. “I know you not jealous.”

“Absolutely not!” She was envious, not jealous. He had started a family with someone else and the thought hurt her more than she realized. He was the only one she could ever imagine herself building with. Erik tickled her sides again, causing her to lose her train of thought. “Erik, please…”

“Mmkay. I’m sorry, Chunk.” He slid a hand to the back of now loose hair and scratched her scalp gently. “You still like that?” She nodded slowly as he slowed his pace, both reminiscing on their first kiss on the beach. Erik’s mouth watered at the thought of doing it again, but experiencing her fully this time.

“So, where you staying tonight?”

“Here. With you. Is that okay?”

Chloe swallowed slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s fine.”

In reality, his plans never got that far. If all else failed, he would have gotten a hotel room, but he found her and he had no intention of leaving her presence until he decided to go back to California. The lights flickered again and Chloe remembered what she was looking for. She finally happened upon an old flashlight that would work for the time being. Chloe still loved the touch of Erik’s fingers in her hair, so she opted not to move. With his free hand, Erik reached around her to grab his cup of tea.

“I’m sure you don’t miss hurricane season when you’re in Oakland, huh?”

Erik’s hand didn’t leave her as it aimlessly drifted down to the small of her back. He took a sip before speaking again.

“You wanna visit sometime?” 

“I would love to, but I can’t afford it. Can’t miss work like that.”

“Don’t worry about that. I gotchu. All expenses paid and you can stay with me.”

“You ain’t gotta do that, Erik.”

“I know I don’t. But I want to.”

Lightning flashed through the window.

“Won’t your lady friend get mad?”

“She might.” He finished his tea and placed the cup in the sink. “But she’s not as important as you are.”

“She’s the mother of your-”

“You the only woman I’ve ever loved Chloe.” Erik wasn’t sure what came over him in that moment and neither was Chloe. This was her moment to tell him the same, but she clammed up. 

Erik placed his head in the crook of her neck, linking them together like puzzle pieces. They had always been a perfect fit. “You know you the only girl for me, right?” Goosebumps raised on her skin as his lips grazed her shoulder - never kissing, just touching. Feeling. Experiencing. One hand wrapped around her waist and settled near the top of her sweatpants, the other danced down her arm. “I tried to find you in her. And in others, too.” Chloe gasped as the hand around her waist softly gripped her belly. He was whispering now, directly into her ear. “They didn’t make me feel like this.”

The lights flickered again until things went completely black. Chloe’s heart was pounding in her chest. She shifted to grab the flashlight, but was unsure if she wanted to turn it on. A few quick strikes of lightning illuminated the room as Erik pressed his lips into her jawline. She was putty in his hands, the same way she had been all those years ago. 

Chloe had searched for some semblance of Erik in the men she dated, but it was pointless. They could have been thugs, or drug dealers, or college professors, but they never cared about Chloe the way Erik did. The feelings couldn’t be replicated, no matter how hard she tried.   
Chloe took a deep breath before finding her voice again. 

“I love you too, Erik.”

He linked their fingers, lips still hovering on her cheek.

“Show me.”


End file.
